Olympique de Marseille – Paris Saint-Germain: Marseille End Le Classique Drought (1-0)

Roberto De Zerbi had promised a reset for Olympique de Marseille after a turbulent August. A promising performance against Real Madrid followed a comfortable victory against FC Lorient. However, it was against Paris Saint-Germain that Marseille truly came alive, beating their old foes and ending a miserable home record in Le Classique of 14 years without a victory in the league. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

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Sunday was not the first time that a storm had been predicted in Marseille, but it was perhaps the first to disrupt Paris Saint-Germain. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with what was (or, in the case of Sunday night, was not) happening on the pitch, but rather what was happening around the Stade Vélodrome, as a severe weather warning was called across the south of France, delaying Le Classique to Monday evening. 

There was something emblematic to Ligue 1’s premier occasion being delayed; the sense that what had been building over the week suddenly evaporated. A sensation that is all too familiar to recent Classiques, which have often been built up but failed to deliver engaging spectacles. The last time Olympique de Marseille beat their rivals in the league was in 2020 (2023 in the Coupe de France), and they have lost the last five meetings by at least two goals. 

Ligue 1 is crying out for a tight rivalry, and a fiercely contested Le Classique would be a boon for the fledgling in-house broadcaster. However, the recent inequality between the reigning European champions and the only other French team to have won the UEFA Champions League has made that situation seem a far-fetched prospect. 

Roberto De Zerbi lined his side up in a 3-4-3 formation. Gerónimo Rulli in goal, with a back three of Nayef Aguerd, Leonardo Balerdi, and Benjamin Pavard. Emerson Palmieri and Timothy Weah as wing-backs, either side of a midfield of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Matt O’Riley. Igor Paixão with his full debut on the left, Mason Greenwood on the right, and Amine Gouiri as the number nine. 

Luis Enrique matched De Zerbi with a 3-5-2 shape. The European champions had to do without Bradley Barcola, João Neves, Désiré Doué, and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé. Lucas Chevalier in goal, with Willian Pacho, Marquinhos, and Illia Zabarnyi in defence. Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi on the wings, Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha, and Warren Zaïre-Emery in midfield. Up front, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Gonçalo Ramos. 

Marseille’s defensive overloads

Marseille’s defensive performances have been under the microscope this season. Even against Real Madrid, where there were some signs of promise (more so in the second half), they allowed 26 shots, 16 of which were on target. However, against an injury-riddled Les Parisiens, Marseille showed a defensive verve that has been so frequently missing under De Zerbi’s tenure. 

Marseille worked hard out of possession from a midblock shape; the midfield and forwards roamed across the width of the pitch as a tight pack of five following the ball, blocking lanes, and then launching into blistering presses to try and win the ball back so they could then transition quickly and hit PSG as they tried to recover. For the first half, PSG played perfectly into Marseille’s plans. 

Wracked with injuries, Luis Enrique put out an experimental-looking team that fielded three at the back. On paper, it looked like a 3-5-2 formation, although in practice, it was more like a 3-4-3 shape when PSG had the ball with Hakimi helping Kvaratskhelia to keep the width, while Mendes inverted into midfield to create a box shape. 

Marseille’s disciplined work rate with Paixao, Greenwood, and Gouiri assisting O’Riley and Højbjerg meant that they always had at least one extra man to create a defensive overload in midfield against PSG’s box shape, and sometimes two when Pavard would leap out of the defensive line. This restricted Les Parisiens from creating their usual devastating passing moves, with Vitinha forced to continuously find new and inventive ways of trying to escape Marseille’s traps. 

Les Phocéens had not scored in their home ground against PSG in the league since 2017, but within five minutes, their defensive performance had paid off. Marseille forced a high turnover, which led to Greenwood finding Gouiri in the box. The Algerian international fired towards goal, but his shot was sent over the bar by Zabarnyi. The resulting set piece was poorly defended, and Marseille maintained their pressure, with Greenwood eventually forcing a shot. The ball took a deflection high into the air, Chevalier went to it, but was beaten by Aguerd’s header home. 

Seventh minute: PSG lose the midfield battle. Marseille block Vitinha’s forward options and begin to press him. Gouiri puts Mendes in his cover shadow as he advances, but is also covered by Pavard, who has been given license to leap forward and mark the inverted fullback. 

Shades of yesteryear

De Zerbi’s Marseille have not always looked too similar to his Brighton & Hove Albion era; the teams have looked more like distant cousins than siblings. In France, De Zerbi has found his opponents often prefer to sit back rather than press his build-up. However, that was never going to be the case against Les Parisiens, where shades of De Zerbi’s old colours began to show. 

The double pivot sat tight to the defensive line, inviting PSG to commit high up the pitch, while Gouiri pushed up, stretching the pitch vertically as an outball, and encouraging third-man runs from Greenwood or Paixao. PSG found that when they looked to engage high up the pitch, Marseille were comfortable using a mix of vertical plays to open up the game, with Rulli’s ability to spot the run from deep also coming in useful. 

15th minute: Short passes between Højbjerg and O’Riley baits PSG’s press creating a gap between their midfield and defense. O’Riley plays the ball to Gouiri, which results in a quick pass to a now free Greenwood, who spots the third man run from Weah. 

Marseille once again had the ball in the back of the net in the 27th minute after a period of high pressing from a deep PSG throw-in prevented the visitors from finding their way out of danger. However, unlike with the first goal, the hosts would be at the whim of the assistant’s flag after Pavard strayed into an offside position. The danger was clear, and Luis Enrique’s men shifted away from a back three and more towards a back four with Marquinhos drifting out to the right-back position. 

PSG find their shooting boots a little too late

Neither manager made a change at halftime. The game had been played at a frenetic pace for much of the first half, with Marseille able to force turnovers with some regularity. In the second half, PSG were better at keeping the ball, with Marquinhos stepping a little bit further upfield to provide an extra passing option alongside Vitinha, and preventing the midfield overload that had defined the first 45 minutes. 

The result of this was that the teams were somewhat nullified; Marseille didn’t create too many more chances while PSG continued to struggle to find a route into the box. De Zerbi blinked first, bringing on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Paixao, with Gouiri moving to the left wing. This was shortly followed by Luis Enrique substituting Pacho for Lee Kang-in, with the Korean international taking up a spot on the right with Hakimi dropping back to fullback. 

The change allowed PSG to create a few more chances, with Ramos and Vitinha testing Rulli’s reflexes in the minutes that followed. Albeit it was evident that Les Parisiens were missing that little bit of edge that their quartet of injured stars would bring to the side. Part of PSG’s strength is that a team sheet packed with talent keeps the opposition on their toes, but that never happened in this match. Marseille were largely left untroubled. 

Marseille had a couple of chances in injury time to kill the game off. A header from Højbjerg looked as if it should have been goal-bound before Aubameyang was given a chance to break past the PSG defense, but was ushered wide, and his shot from a tight angle couldn’t find a way past Chevalier. It didn’t matter in the end; the one goal was enough to end Marseille’s long wait for a victory against their rivals and breathe some life back into Le Classique. 

Takeaways

Marseille put in a performance that was worlds apart from what they had shown before the international break. They were composed and united; a team pulling in the same direction. Football is often about momentum, and it’ll be interesting to see what they could build from this match, although a difficult game against RC Strasbourg Alsace awaits on Friday evening. 

It’s hard not to look past the injuries that have weakened Luis Enrique’s hand; losing just one of Dembélé, Barcola, Neves, or Doué would have been hard, but all four is unthinkable. Last season’s long campaign appears to have caught up with them and left a flat performance lacking any of the verve that propelled the club into becoming European Champions.